Chief’s Briefs - Seton Hall Edition

[Chief00]

Karaban came out and gave us a strong first half without let up, but with 7 minutes left in the second half, he had taken only 2 shots in that half. We need more awareness on the court of who is the hot hand and to get him the ball when he is in position to score. Alex finished with 23 points and 5-6 from 3pts.

Foul shot attempts might not seem important in a 32 point win but when you barely win by 4 points, a 29 to 9 FTA advantage means a lot. In fact, the 12 point advantage of FT makes was the difference despite shooting only 69%. That was likely why Hurley sent a message and made a challenge last game despite a big lead to drive the point home on an obvious bad initial call. Apparently, it was noticed!

What’s tough about this year, despite our great record, is there’s few steady trends. Other than we are a team that knows how to win and usually finds a way. Reed aggressively played out in front of the hedge after being very productive last game when he played horizontal to the hedger quickly dropping back to a position he could blocks shots, defend his man and rebound. He did finish with a double / double (10 points, 11 rebounds).

Ball finished with 14 points 2-7 3FG but 8-10 FT. Demary had 1 point but 9 assists. Ross was good on defense except for on a couple of threes where their shooters feet got to comfortable, since he did not crowd them out and make them move before they got the ball.

We can beat anyone or lose to anyone good, so let’s go with option A.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I always make the same comment to the missus about Tarris. I love when he gets fouled and makes the shot. Getting 2 points takes the sting out of missing the subsequent free throw. 55%, or whatever he's shooting, is atrocious.

 

[gtcam]

I find it interesting that UConn plays Reed on defense the way they should and destroy a decent St John’s team then revert back and squeak by the Hall.
Love Brandon M but come on kid, that 3rd foul seconds into the 2nd half hurt the team.
Another, a win is a win. That won’t fly starting less than 2 weeks from now

 

[jibsey]

I find it interesting that UConn plays Reed on defense the way they should and destroy a decent St John’s team then revert back and squeak by the Hall.
Love Brandon M but come on kid, that 3rd foul seconds into the 2nd half hurt the team.
Another, a win is a win. That won’t fly starting less than 2 weeks from now

Braylon HAS to stay on the floor. Really pleased with Ross’s improvement. Not making free throws could be what sinks this team down the road in a close game.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's a win but if there is something to harp about or build on is the team missed Reed a bunch of times rolling to the basket.

 

[RuffRuff]

Here is what you have to believe in as a Husky & Hurley hopeful. When motivated, this team can execute at a high level. Hurley is a master motivator, they'll be going into the tourney as the likely 4th 1 seed with a nice road to an Elite 8, which would likely be the first game they'd play against a team that they wouldn't be heavily favored over. Hurley is going to have plenty of BB material with a lot of doubters out there based on the close calls all year in the BE. The refs will free things up to let UConn play their game. Let's just get to that Elite 8 and see how the chips fall.

 

[SwingDog]

When motivated, this team can execute at a high level. Hurley is a master motivator

This cannot be emphasized enough.

They were clearly motivated and energized versus St. John's. Today however, their focus seemed clouded by all the sentimentality and mixed emotions of Senior Day along with coming off the blowout win versus St. John's on Wednesday. To their credit, though it took the last few minutes of the game to get there, they came to the realization that they were going to lose this basketball game to a very determined Seton Hall team if they didn't give all they had to get the win.

 

[Sea Goat]

For a moment (or two or three), I thought Mr. Hyde was taking over the game...

 

[willie99]

That was a much bigger and much harder win than many people seemingly realize

Thank you Huskies, we're rolling together

 

[ucp990411]

How about giving credit to the opponent. They had a week to prepare for us, their defensive game plan was perfect. Be as physical as allowed, double, triple team Reed so he can’t make a move to the basket and he can’t see his teammates to make a pass and the guard the 3 pt line and if he dribbles steal the ball.
Our game plan was to take away their drives to the basket (the main way they score) which we did because of an excellent usage of the high hedge.
Understand they are the worst 3 pt shooting team in the conference and one of the worst in the country. They went 0-18 their last game and 1-16 against the first time we played. Who would have ever thought they would be on fire on 3’s?
Plus they were desperate for a big win. Shaheen is a great defensive coach and again he had a great game plan.

 

[JungleLobo]

It's a win but if there is something to harp about or build on is the team missed Reed a bunch of times rolling to the basket.

I think you spelled free throws wrong

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think you spelled free throws wrong

Nah. I mentioned FT's in another thread. Reed is what he is. A 50% FT shooter. UConn won a chip with Okafor shooting 52% and Taliek shooting 55% from the FT line. Would I love everyone shooting 75%+? You betcha, but it isn't happening.

Big picture is keeping Ball in Karaban, Mullins, Ball, and Demary's hands at the end.

 

[Chief00]

I find it interesting that UConn plays Reed on defense the way they should and destroy a decent St John’s team then revert back and squeak by the Hall.
Love Brandon M but come on kid, that 3rd foul seconds into the 2nd half hurt the team.
Another, a win is a win. That won’t fly starting less than 2 weeks from now

So true about Reed vs SJU and then going away from that success. Calhoun used to call an early timeout when he saw something like that or was it a coaching decision to go back to what failed?

I thought Mullins was frustrated yesterday, Demary missed him a few times when he was wide open calling for the ball. Despite our high assist numbers we seem to miss open guys and lack awareness of who to pass it to where. I love Solo but with him a PG needs to take a pulse after awhile in a game. Some games his shooting doesn’t justify a high volume of shots. Usually early on you can tell if it’s his game or not.

 

[Chief00]

Braylon HAS to stay on the floor. Really pleased with Ross’s improvement. Not making free throws could be what sinks this team down the road in a close game.

The way he wasn’t getting the ball when he was open isn’t a good sign for him returning. I am not saying it was intentional but I am saying we need to make a special effort looking for an elite shooter.

 

[Chief00]

Nah. I mentioned FT's in another thread. Reed is what he is. A 50% FT shooter. UConn won a chip with Okafor shooting 52% and Taliek shooting 55% from the FT line. Would I love everyone shooting 75%+? You betcha, but it isn't happening.

Big picture is keeping Ball in Karaban, Mullins, Ball, and Demary's hands at the end.

I Liked your post but I do think a 50-55% FT guy needs to get in the gym in mornings or at nights and get it up to low or mid 60’s%. Right now Reed looks very uncomfortable at line with his breathing and body language.
Reibe and Smith need to improve too - not to the 80’s percentages but up to the 70’s.

 

[Chief00]

It's a win but if there is something to harp about or build on is the team missed Reed a bunch of times rolling to the basket.

That too along with missing Mullins. I was shocked that the boxscore read 9 assists to 2 turnovers for Demary. You can’t say he shot instead of passed with a 0-2 FG stat. I sensed he got too focused on dribbling and our points were late in the shot clock? While he was focused on dribbling he missed open guys. Yet, per the boxscore he had 9 assists?

 

[Chief00]

Here is what you have to believe in as a Husky & Hurley hopeful. When motivated, this team can execute at a high level. Hurley is a master motivator, they'll be going into the tourney as the likely 4th 1 seed with a nice road to an Elite 8, which would likely be the first game they'd play against a team that they wouldn't be heavily favored over. Hurley is going to have plenty of BB material with a lot of doubters out there based on the close calls all year in the BE. The refs will free things up to let UConn play their game. Let's just get to that Elite 8 and see how the chips fall.

I hope you’re right, this team usually find’s a way to win, but how easy a game will be, I have given up guessing.

 

[Chief00]

How about giving credit to the opponent. They had a week to prepare for us, their defensive game plan was perfect. Be as physical as allowed, double, triple team Reed so he can’t make a move to the basket and he can’t see his teammates to make a pass and the guard the 3 pt line and if he dribbles steal the ball.
Our game plan was to take away their drives to the basket (the main way they score) which we did because of an excellent usage of the high hedge.
Understand they are the worst 3 pt shooting team in the conference and one of the worst in the country. They went 0-18 their last game and 1-16 against the first time we played. Who would have ever thought they would be on fire on 3’s?
Plus they were desperate for a big win. Shaheen is a great defensive coach and again he had a great game plan.

While we should always tip our hat to our opponents, we can’t say the high hedge was applied in an excellent fashion when a poor shooting 3 team rained 3’s on us. What I saw were shooters left open, while they got very comfortable with their feet standing just behind the 3 line. Good 3pt shooting often starts with the feet/legs before the shooter touches the ball. These weren’t well defended 3’s that went in, these were open non rushed comfortable shots, that went in.

 

[willstafa24]

I can understand the frustration with this team but this game looks different if SH doesn't shoot 9-18 from 3. If they shot their average, then they score 55 and we win by 10 or 12 over KenPom's 10th rated defense. This was a better performance then we're giving credit.

As for the FTs, it's really only Tarris. I posted this in another thread but they are a 77% FT team if you remove Tarris and Reibe. That means our end-of-game shooting will be fine.

 

[ucp990411]

While we should always tip our hat to our opponents, we can’t say the high hedge was applied in an excellent fashion when a poor shooting 3 team rained 3’s on us. What I saw were shooters left open, while they got very comfortable with their feet standing just behind the 3 line. Good 3pt shooting often starts with the feet/legs before the shooter touches the ball. These weren’t well defended 3’s that went in, these were open non rushed comfortable shots, that went in.

Game plan was to take away their drives. Could we have contested some 3s better, sure but they made contested 3s as well. They shot like they haven’t all season.

 

[Kolumbo]

Braylon HAS to stay on the floor. Really pleased with Ross’s improvement. Not making free throws could be what sinks this team down the road in a close game.

I saw the link to the game replay and here is the 3rd foul on Braylon. I'm not sure I can fault Brayon here. He ran into a pick. isn't that the entire point of the pick? and calling it 12 seconds into the half. Then Donny starts talking about something entirely unrelated instead of the cheap foul just called. Braylon's 3rd foul was a huge development in the game.

 

[CL82]

Nah. I mentioned FT's in another thread. Reed is what he is. A 50% FT shooter. UConn won a chip with Okafor shooting 52% and Taliek shooting 55% from the FT line. Would I love everyone shooting 75%+? You betcha, but it isn't happening.

Big picture is keeping Ball in Karaban, Mullins, Ball, and Demary's hands at the end.

Which reasons an interesting question which team was our best free-throw shooting team? Despite a Emeka's free throw percentage sided, I feel like the 2004 team was pretty good. Without looking it up, I think I would say 2014. I remember the squid saying it was pointless foul that team.

 

[gsmooth]

I can understand the frustration with this team but this game looks different if SH doesn't shoot 9-18 from 3. If they shot their average, then they score 55 and we win by 10 or 12 over KenPom's 10th rated defense. This was a better performance then we're giving credit.

As for the FTs, it's really only Tarris. I posted this in another thread but they are a 77% FT team if you remove Tarris and Reibe. That means our end-of-game shooting will be fine.

I certainly hope so, but it wasn't fine in trying to close out the first Georgetown game or the St. John's game. There are games where they did close it out successfully at the FT line, however.

I know everyone remembers the 2009 6-OT game against Syracuse. I wanted UConn to win of course, but my bigger concern after that game was that they had several chances to close that game out with made FTs, but missed them. I said after that game, "free throw shooting could end up getting this team eliminated in the NCAA Tournament". And it did. Not many people in the Boneyard mention this, but it was main culprit for them losing to Michigan State in the Final Four. Michigan State went 14-20 from the FT line while UConn went 21-33 with some front end of 1 on 1s missed.

 

[Edward Sargent]

That too along with missing Mullins. I was shocked that the boxscore read 9 assists to 2 turnovers for Demary. You can’t say he shot instead of passed with a 0-2 FG stat. I sensed he got too focused on dribbling and our points were late in the shot clock? While he was focused on dribbling he missed open guys. Yet, per the boxscore he had 9 assists?

Rewatched the game and Demary had a good 6 inches on Clark and there were multiple times he should have taken the shot over him.

 

[Scottobot]

This cannot be emphasized enough.

They were clearly motivated and energized versus St. John's. Today however, their focus seemed clouded by all the sentimentality and mixed emotions of Senior Day along with coming off the blowout win versus St. John's on Wednesday. To their credit, though it took the last few minutes of the game to get there, they came to the realization that they were going to lose this basketball game to a very determined Seton Hall team if they didn't give all they had to get the win.

I agree in general but you also have to factor Seton Hall had to have this win the make tournament and they played the best I have seen them play all season. They are perhaps the worst three point shooting team in the league and they were on fire today. They attacked every loose ball like their life depended on it.